1.05.2015

Not Today

If it weren't over, today would have been a chemo day. Dave would probably be on his way down to the VA right now to get his labs drawn and start his saline drip while waiting to hear if his counts were high enough to commence with the infusion. He'd go home around 230, then take to the couch with his Star Trek and wait for me to come home and cook something for dinner that didn't make his stomach churn.

BUT NOT TODAY!

Today Dave got up around 530 and went to work doing the dedicated account for which he was hired, rather than odd loads here and there. He'll get off somewhere around dinner time, come home, we'll eat dinner together at the table, play with Aria, send her off to bed, and then catch up on a show or two before heading to bed ourselves. An entirely normal day.

Dave's hoping that maybe this week he'll start to feel more like himself, in the physical and energy sense that is. In talking to a friend of his who's been through chemo, it'll be a long time before he truly starts to feel like himself. But he's hoping to start getting some of the energy back. It should come back to him slowly as the chemicals leave his body, but traces can remain 6 months to a year, so we've been told.

The next step is waiting for the CT scan. They sent him home with two bottles of "Banana Smoothie" flavored contrast to drink over the course of two hours. They told him, however, not to get too excited about the flavor as it does not really taste like a banana smoothie. Big shocker there! I'm thinking as positive as I can about that upcoming scan...I'm choosing to believe that it will show the lymph nodes have drastically reduced in size and there is no further action required besides monitoring. Dave, on the other hand, is having a harder time thinking positively. He had a dream last week where the results of the scan showed his insides lit up like a Christmas tree. So you see, I'm thinking positive while Dave is taking the doomsday approach. Either way, we'll find out at the end of the month what his results truly are.

And now a story...

I put Aria in the bath tub on Saturday night and then went to "handle some business"...because it's a rare opportunity I get to be able to use the restroom without a child barging in the door and sitting on the floor right in front of me while I "handle things". Typically I use bath time to do the litter box or to switch laundry, so I'm right across the hall from Aria's bathroom. Anyway....while I was busy, I heard some splashing. No big deal, Aria splashes in the tub all the time. I come in, ask her why there is a little water on the floor, and she shows me how her squirty toys like to squirt water...almost always in the direction of the bathroom floor. So when I get back to her bathroom 5-7 minutes later, imagine my shock when I catch her with her pink bucket in hand, full of water, mid-throw across the room. I yelled "ARIA!" before looking down at the floor.... oh my. The bathroom floor was covered with water! So much water, in fact, that it was already spilling over onto the carpet in the hallway. There was at least a full inch of water on that floor! I called downstairs for Dave to come help. He said "is everything OK?" In return, I said "No, Aria flooded the bathroom" and up the stairs he flew to see for himself. Turns out...it had rained outside, but didn't make any puddles (my child LOVES a puddle). Because there weren't any puddles outside in which to jump, Aria thought it was a good idea to make a puddle in the house instead. While Dave and I were cleaning up the mess (so...much...water), she got upset that we were cleaning it up before she had a chance to jump in it. That little stinker!! After much chatting, Aria learned that she is never again to make a puddle in the house...that puddles are for outside only. If she'd like a puddle outside and there is none, she can use the hose (with help from Dave or I) to make her own puddle.

When I asked her yesterday about her puddle, she got all smiley and said "mommy, that puddle wasn't for you". Yes dear....I know that...mommy knows better than to make puddles in the bathroom!

** A few previous posts have mentioned my friend's baby fighting for her life in the hospital. I'm sad to say that she just couldn't fight anymore and became an angel on Saturday night. I ask that you please pray for strength and comfort for the Parrish family over the next few days. **